At the end of his life Alexander Skryabin was increasingly preoccupied with the idea of a multi-media mysterium, a seven-day ritual that was to be celebrated in a semi-spherical temple in India and aimed to appeal to all the senses: a symphony of words, music, colour, fragrance, touch, dance and architecture. However, Skryabin was able to realise only fragments of this truly Utopian project: “The preparatory action” intended to take all visitors to a new cosmic consciousness.